Tagged: Nate Fugitt

Q. Do you think your High School coach gave you a good foundation for pitching delivery?

Bally. I would say that he gave me a good start on having a fluid and repeating my same delivery, but it was my dad who was my pitching coach from when I was 5 till I was about 14 or 15 so I think my dad was the one who gave me the right direction on how to pitch.

Q. What’s it really like on those minor league buses?

Bally. Well I would say its different for everyone, for me it was pretty tough I mean me being 6’5″ and having my knees touching the other seats and not to mention everywhere I played I was just a little rookie and one of the youngest people so you had to double up so it was pretty rough. Now for some people they can sleep in these kind of situations or play cards or just sleep on the wet sticky floor but for me those long 8 to 13 hour bus rides were really hard on the body.

Q. Did you ever have a roommate in the minors with bad hygene habits that made you want to through water on him while he was sleeping? IE Stinky feet… My brother roomed with me and he use to wear his sneakers out till they were hung together by the stench alone.

Bally. ( haha) thats a pretty funny question I would say that I had some pretty good roommates, I have never had a stinky roommate. I would say the closest to that would be like a roommate that doesn’t sleep very much or goes to bed really late, because im a guy who kinda likes to get to bed early (12am) I mean I wish I had at least 1 bad roommate so that I could answer this question a little better.

Q. Is it good being you?

Bally. Haha dang thats 2 funny questions in a row, I mean im just a regular average guy from Huntington Beach CA, I mean yes I love being me as in me not saying a baseball player. I really just love life and I love to have fun so I dont know if its good being me but I do know I love being me.

Q. What is your mindset going into Spring Training if the Nats sign Odalis Perez? That would mean 3 leftys in the rotation and only 2 right hander Rotation spots “Left”. No pun intended.

Bally. Well I have the same mindset going into spring training even if they had 4 leftys and 1 spot open, all I can control is the things I do so im working out hard and getting ready to show everyone what I got, I mean no ones spot is a forsure thing so im going to come in and so people that I deserve a spot in the rotation.

Q. What sports star would you like to meet?

Bally. I would like to meet Kobe Byant, Chris Pronger, and Dirk Nowizki.

Q. Can you grow that beard as long/shaped as Tim Redding’s used to be? (you may need to shave your head for effect). He’s never grown his back and we need a replacement.

Bally. Well let me tell you one thing, Tim Redding’s beard is really long and has great shape and I really dont think my beard can even get like that and im pretty jealous of him for that.

Q. Can/Do you play golf? Seems to be a prerequisite for the big club

Bally. Well I do play golf but I cant play it very good. I just like the freedom and how it makes me feel when I play. I am much better at just crushing 20 balls in a row though haha

Q. Do your parents follow you online and look for photos and what others are saying about you?

Bally. Wow you hit that right on the nose. In the minors they would listen to all my games on the internet and when I was doing good they would be calm and be happy but if I had a bad game or they thought the ump made a bad call they would get really mad at the computer so you could say they are very into my career and I love that.

Q. What are your pitching goals for the coming year and beyond? (One should be to make sure people on major tv sports whos know how to pronounce your name)

Bally. My one and only goal for this up coming year is to be and stay healthy the whole year and the rest will play out, you cant help the team on the DL. And for all you who dont know how to pronounce my name its Bal-(ist)-er

Q. What are you doing workout-wise during the off-season (besides throwing snowballs)?

Bally. ( haha) Well I have a personal trainer Nate Fugitt and he has been getting me into the best shape of my life and not only that hes working my fast twitch muscles with some speed training, I have already gained about 10 pounds and getting ready for spring.

Q. Tv sports shows?

Bally. I like The Office, Good Eats, Sportscenter, Baseball Tonight, Cash Cab, Discovery and food network.

Q. Pc or Macs?

Bally. I looooooooooooove MACS and would love to be on a commercial if there’s any apple reps looking at my blog haha.

Q. A lot of people when talking about building a successful team talk about having a balance of “youth” and “veterans.” Do you think the Nationals have this balance and if not, what do you think they need? How much stock do you put into “having that vet” in the rotation for guidance? Does the rotation really need that currently?

Bally. Well yes I think that you need some veterans to go with your young guys, me being a guy who likes to talk and learn can really learn from a guy who has been around and knows what to do and also what not to do, so I really think its important. I really think the veterans on our team last year were awesome, I mean anytime you needed to talk to them about baseball, life, anything you wanted to they where there to show you the ropes and I really felt like I became not only a better player but also a better person because of them. I think Odalis Perez and Tim Redding really were good for us young guys on the team they were always around to help us out with any problems and showed us different pitches and how to hold them, and how to deal with the big league life, so I would say these guys if they are back next year are a positive part of our team for the future.

Q. Confess: What blogs and message boards do you frequent if any? (Might I suggest: natsnq dot-com, as a shameless plug. LOL.)

Bally. Um I looked at Tori Hunters blog alot and also one of my buddy Phil Hughes blog, I would say thats it. I look at mine about 50 times a day so keep writing to me ( haha)

Q. Are you aware you bare a strange resemblance to Jeff Fahey in the movie “The Lawnmower Man?

Bally. I have no clue who that is but thanks I hope. Ill check out a Pic of him.

Q. If you could work with any other pitcher in the league, who would it be?

Bally. C.C Sabithia no doubt. He seems like a great guy and I mean obviously hes a great pitcher to say the least.

Q. You dressed as a lumberjack for Halloween: please say your a Monty Python fan?

Bally. No im not sorry ( haha)

Q. Jim Bowden: On the sauce or deranged genius?

Bally. Great GM. Awesome guy too

Q. Spring Training gives fans unparalleled access to the players and it gives the players unparalleled access to the fans. How does this relationship effect the players? Are they annoyed by all the hoopla and vultures who look to get their autograph for an eBay auction or do they know it comes with the territory? What is your own idea of perfect “fan/player etiquette?”

Bally. I like it because like I always
say without you fans this game is nothing, so I like to give back to the fans and so them that I appreciate the support that they give on a day to day basis. Also I will sign for anyone thats the least I can do.

Q. Are you going for the Tank Abbott “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” look with the beard?

Bally. Haha, there’s only one Huntington Beach Bad Boy and thats Tito Ortiz, but no I just like to have a beard in the offseason because I cant have it during the year.

Q. Do the starters have any rookie hazing like the bullpen’s slap the head ritual? Do any starters have to carry a pink backpack?

Bally. Well I mean rookies period have little hazing all year long, but starters dont really have the kind of thing that bullpen guys have I think starters stick together a little better haha

Q. Don’t you hate sand in your shorts? I do, that’s why no one buries me at the beach.

Bally. Yes that is one of my least favorite things in this world.

Q. Sharks. As a surfer, love ’em or hate ’em?

Bally. Sharks are ok with me im an animal lover so all animals are cool with me.

Q. Do you give Garrett Mock crap about him being drafted before you in the 2004 draft? How about Ian Desmond?

Bally. Come on man those guys are my boys, and how could I give them crap if they were drafted higher then me haha..

Well that will do it thanks everyone for doing this and Keep the questions coming I really enjoy answering them for you..